This week, my usual posts are suspended as I take part in the Your Turn Challenge. As a part of this challenge, those of us who participate are committing to a daily post for seven days, starting today January 19th to January 25. You can read the posts of other participants here. Why am I taking part? Because – I want to get unstuck.
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It is my nature to get enthusiastic and so into something that I get over ambitious and over-plan and over-extend – to such a manner that I get overwhelmed. And then I give up and have to take a break from it. And come back and start over again.
That is crazy isn’t it? So much starting and stopping and starting and stopping.
So what might be a better approach for me? At first thought, it might be moderation. But then just trying to moderate my enthusiasm is very time consuming, tiring and counterproductive. The enthusiasm and the excitement completely die down – which hampers my creativity. The advantage of the momentum is lost.
The better approach might be to monitor my feelings closely, and when this enthusiasm is on the edge of pushing me to overwhelm, to then dial back, just a bit. Kind of like a speeding race car driver – who has to go fast, on the edge, but still on this side of control.
To do so, I will first need to be mindful and monitor myself carefully. Self knowledge and presence is key. Secondly, I need to totally trust my feelings and instincts. The minute I detect a slight “Oh no! Do I really need to do so much? Maybe this isn’t so much fun any more…”, I need to give myself a break and not push so much.
Easier said than done, of course (like everything else….is a practice.)
January 23, 2015